Cory Fonger
Prof. Hargraves
12 December 2001
Pornography is very prevalent in our society. This is not exactly a good thing. The want for pornography comes from the desire of lust. Lust is considered to be one of the seven deadly sins. Then, why give in to this appetite? The fact that it is easily accessible and not considered to be harmful to a person’s well being make it acceptable. However, it is harmful and should be considered as such. Pornography and extreme sexual content in the media is a detriment to society and should be eliminated.
Pornography is not the problem, but merely a tool. The real concern is lust. Although, the control of lust is a personal issue, the elimination of pornography and other sexual content would aid individuals in suppressing their appetite for lust, or at least not increasing that appetite. Pornography is merely the exploitation of a human weakness. This is no better than any other money making scheme benefiting from the weak.
Lust is not entirely bad. It should not be removed from a person altogether, but rather be controlled. Lust can lead to ill reputable behavior. This does not necessarily mean sleeping with many people. This is not considered very respectable behavior, especially in larger numbers and great frequency. There are however, more problems with lust. Engaging in sexual activity with someone other than the one currently involved in a relationship would be considered “cheating” and also very distrustful.
Sex does not always require love. In a relationship where love is present, it is always beneficial to control lust. Sex is the fulfillment of lustful desires. The term “making love” would be better stated as “giving in to lust”. Again, when love is the basis of a relationship, lust can be used to benefit the relationship as long as it is not considered of high importance. When lust is controlled, it can be shared between couples, it then becomes something that they do not have with any other person and it becomes somewhat special.
Controlling lustful thoughts and desires is hard enough without the aid of pornography. There are large amounts of sexual content on television, though not considered to be pornography; it could also be attributed to the same effects thereof. The Internet is a place of rampant pornography and other filth, which is by far the most accessible. People will have lustful thoughts without pornography or sexual content in the media to aid them. Therefore, there is no need for these things to make a situation any worse. Lust can destroy relationships and thus the very character of people brought up in these situations.
Banning the rampant pornography especially on the Internet and editing extreme sexual content in the media can help ameliorate the moral dilemmas caused by poor self-control. They would not cure the situation but would certainly help the individual to control their appetites.